


Magic Hours

by annemari



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Community: no_tags, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-12
Updated: 2012-02-12
Packaged: 2017-10-31 01:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/338230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annemari/pseuds/annemari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What the fuck?" Gerard asks, weakly. His heart's still trying to beat its way out of his chest. He's honestly used to dealing with ghosts by now, but he always startles when they do their whole "turning up out of nowhere to spook you to death" shtick. Also, this guy's not a <i>ghost</i>. So, seriously, what the fuck.</p><p>"Who the fuck are you?" the guy asks, and Gerard splutters, because hey, this is <i>their</i> haunted house, so technically they're the ones who should be asking that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magic Hours

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "#33: Frank/Gerard - Ghost hunters" at [](http://no_tags.livejournal.com/profile)[**no_tags**](http://no_tags.livejournal.com/). Thank you to my lovely betas, [](http://fabu.livejournal.com/profile)[**fabu**](http://fabu.livejournal.com/) and [](http://flakeofemerald.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://flakeofemerald.livejournal.com/)**flakeofemerald**.

"Are you sure they said there was no security system?" Gerard asks again. The door had opened easily enough — albeit with some ominous creaking — but he still wants to make sure the cops aren't gonna mess up their first official case.

Well, almost official. It's not exactly like anyone hired them for this, but if they solve the mystery of a haunted mansion they're totally gonna get their name out there.

"I'm sure," Mikey says. "I showed you the article I found, you read it yourself." He pushes his glasses up on his nose and Gerard can see him clutch the flashlight a bit tighter. Gerard gently knocks his shoulder against Mikey's. He knows Mikey's not scared, not really. They've been doing this for long enough, and Mikey hasn't really gotten scared since the first time and he was, like, eight then. He can sense the nervousness, though; he feels it himself. Apprehension. It helps keep them alert, at least. Keeps them focused.

"Come on," Gerard whispers, and pushes open the first door that leads out of the main hall.

They've gone through three rooms in the right wing of the house when they hear it. A thumping coming from above them. Gerard freezes, flashlight still pointed at a painting in the sitting room — a portrait of a woman and a little boy, which gives off a seriously creepy vibe, but not really a _ghost_ vibe — and feels Mikey do the same on the other side of the room. He glances over, and while he can barely make out Mikey's face in the shadows, he can tell Mikey's looking back at him. He doesn't even have to ask if Mikey heard it too.

Gerard inclines his head toward the door that leads them back the way they came and sees Mikey nod. They move quickly, and almost quietly — it's pretty impossible for them to be totally quiet, even though they've been practicing it for a long time — and soon reach the staircase in the main hall.

They find themselves in a long, narrow hallway when they get upstairs, which Gerard didn't really expect. He thought the upper floor was mapped the same way as the first, one big hall with rooms all connected to one another.

"Should we—" Mikey starts.

"No," Gerard says. They never split up. Mikey still sometimes suggests it, but Gerard is not gonna leave his brother alone in a house that might be inhabited by a ghost, not even if it would help them scan the place faster. It's one of the things he promised Elena.

They shuffle forward, trying to be as quiet as possible. The hallway seems endless, and the banging noise starts up again. Gerard can't tell where it's coming from. It's like footsteps, but not. It sounds like someone's stumbling into something, repeatedly.

Suddenly a door slams right behind them. Gerard jumps and turns — almost tripping over his own feet, but luckily Mikey's there to catch him as always — and comes face to face with a ghost.

Wait. No.

The guy standing in front of him is short, belligerent, glaring at Gerard and definitely corporeal.

"What the fuck?" Gerard asks, weakly. His heart's still trying to beat its way out of his chest. He's honestly used to dealing with ghosts by now, but he always startles when they do their whole "turning up out of nowhere to spook you to death" shtick. Also, this guy's not a _ghost_. So, seriously, what the fuck.

"Who the fuck are you?" the guy asks, and Gerard splutters, because hey, this is _their_ haunted house, so technically they're the ones who should be asking that.

The guy doesn't seem to agree, though, because he lifts his flashlight even higher and steps closer. "Well?" He looks tough, and his attitude reminds Gerard of all the assholes he had to deal with during high school, but the picture is ruined a bit by the glasses the dude's wearing. They make him look the slightest bit dorky.

Just as Gerard comes to that realization, though, the guy takes them off and puts them in his pocket. Now he just looks intimidating all around. Gerard almost takes a step back, but then thinks, _fuck it_.

"I'm Gerard, and this is my brother Mikey," he says. "We're ghost hunters. Who the fuck are _you_?"

The guy narrows his eyes. "Frank Iero. _I'm_ a ghost hunter." He lifts his EMF-meter and camera as if to prove it. Gerard just gapes. He can tell even Mikey's taken aback.

"You—" Gerard starts, then closes his mouth. Frank lifts his chin, challenging. "Wait, so you were the one making all that _noise_?" That, more than anything, seems a bit unprofessional to him.

Frank seems to deflate a bit at that, even though his expression doesn't really change. "That— No, it was my assistant. He— Oh, what's the point now, _Ray_." He shouts the name, and Gerard winces, but it's true, they've made enough of a ruckus by now.

A guy with bushy hair rushes down the hallway a second later and comes to a stop next to Frank. "Fuck," he wheezes. "Are you— What?" He seems to just notice Gerard and Mikey standing there, and he throws them a quizzical look before turning back to Frank.

"We're out of here," Frank says, grimly. "We're not gonna find anything tonight, not with this noise. You read what the paper said, the ghosts here like quiet."

Gerard curses himself, because really, he should have figured that the newspaper article that they found would also attract others, but he'd been so focused on the task ahead it hadn't even passed his mind.

"Wait," Ray says. "Who are these guys?"

"It doesn't matter," Frank says. "Because next time we come around _they_ aren't gonna be here." He turns and starts walking towards the stairs.

Gerard splutters, and follows. "Wha— Wait, _what_? You can't just— This is _our_ ghost. I mean, uh. It's our case." Frank keeps walking. "Wait, why do you think there's more than one ghost?"

Frank turns around at that. "A house this big, the extent of disturbances mentioned — It's gotta be." And wow, okay, apparently the guy with an _assistant_ is also an amateur, because if he thinks that just one ghost couldn't do this then he doesn't know ghosts very well. Gerard frowns.

"That's not—"

"Look, it's best to assume the worst," Ray says next to him and Gerard startles, moves back to Mikey's side. He's still high on alert; it's hard to turn that off in a haunted house.

"Also what the fuck, they're _your_ ghosts?" Frank asks. "I think it's clear that we were here first."

Gerard opens his mouth to argue, but he gets cut off.

"Look," Ray says. "There's no point in discussing this here. Why don't we all go and get coffee or something?"

Gerard immediately perks up at the promise of coffee — they were only planning on doing a preliminary inspection of the place, so they hadn't brought any with them like they usually do — but Frank frowns and says, "No, fuck it, I'm out of here." He turns and storms down the stairs at that.

Ray gives them both a apologetic look, and follows.

"Wait," Mikey says, and Ray stops and looks back at him. "Do you guys have a business card or something?"

Gerard frowns, but Ray's already checking his pockets. "Oh— Um, I must have— Wait, just let me." He pulls out a pencil and a piece of paper and scribbles down a phone number. "This is, uh, mine," he says, handing it over. "I'd give you Frank's, but— Well, technically I _am_ his assistant anyway, so."

Mikey just nods. "Thanks."

" _Ray_ ," Frank calls, again, and Ray rolls his eyes, and gives them a wave before heading downstairs.

"Fuck," Gerard says once they're both out of sight.

"Yeah," Mikey says. "Come on, no point in hanging around here tonight."

*

Gerard goes down to the basement as soon as they get home, Mikey on his heels.

"Gerard," Mikey starts, but Gerard ignores him and grabs his sketchbook to fix the plan of the house he'd drawn before. He can't believe he forgot to take it with him.

"Did you know the upper floor had one long hallway?" he asks Mikey. He doesn't look up to see if Mikey nods or not, and Mikey doesn't answer. Gerard settles down on the bed and starts marking the rooms they went through.

Mikey sits down next to him when Gerard's already made notes next to the rooms they visited and redrawn the upper floor. He pauses on the last room, the one they were in when they heard the noise Ray and Frank had made. "Was there a higher reading in this one? I can't remember."

Mikey leans over to check out what he's pointing to, then nods. "Slightly. Also, I think it was a bit colder than the others, but I didn't really have the chance to think about it, then."

Gerard scribbles that down, then sighs. "We'll have to go back soon. Fuck, we only got through _three_ rooms, I was hoping for—"

"At least the whole first floor, I know," Mikey finishes for him. "Gerard—"

"Who the fuck _were_ those guys?" Gerard asks, aggravated.

Mikey shrugs next to him. "That's why I asked for a their business card."

"And instead you just got a phone number," Gerard says. Mikey shrugs again. "Seriously, they just came out of fucking nowhere."

"I think they _were_ there first, though," Mikey points out. "And they— They didn't seem too bad. The other guy was nice. The one with the hair — Ray?"

Gerard shakes his head and runs a hand over his face. They certainly weren't the worst thing they could have come across in that house, but they were still other ghost hunters who were messing with Gerard's plan. Also, the angry dude, Frank, was seriously... well, aggravating.

"If they solve it first then they're the ones who'll get credit for it," Gerard says, and lifts a hand to massage the bridge of his nose. "They'll have something to their name."

"So? I know that's not what you care about," Mikey says. He shifts a little closer to Gerard on the bed, leans his head on Gerard's shoulder.

Gerard sighs, again. It really isn't, but. "We're still gonna need something to get this off its feet. We need something so people will _know_ that they can come to us for help. I was just... This was gonna be _it_."

Mikey makes a humming sound, and pulls back to look at Gerard. Gerard knows what he's gonna say before he speaks. "So let's work together. We don't even know what the case is yet, and it didn't seem like they did either."

Gerard starts shaking his head immediately, but Mikey pushes on. "Come on, you know it's the best option. We could just go over there and chance running into them again and then neither of us would get nowhere."

Sometimes Gerard hates when Mikey's right, just a little bit. Mikey's giving him a hopeful little smile, though. Gerard shakes his head again, the fucker knows he's won. Mikey smiles for real then, and pulls him into a quick hug.

"It'll be fine," he says. "You'll see."

*

Mikey calls Ray and they set up a meeting for the next day at the coffee shop not far from the mansion. Frank and Ray are already there when they arrive, sitting at one of the booths near the back. Gerard orders for both of them and settles down besides Mikey.

"So," Frank says, and leans forward, his elbows on the table. "What's this about?"

He doesn't sound as... Hostile as before. Definitely doesn't look it. Gerard relaxes a little.

"We figured—" Gerard throws Mikey a look. "I figured," Mikey amends, "that since the mansion is so big and we both, uh, want the case we could maybe work together." He's looking down at his hands, but then lifts his head to meet Frank's eyes. Gerard nudges his leg and looks at Frank as well.

Frank's resting his chin on his hands, his gaze calculative and fixed on Mikey.

"I mean..." Mikey says. "We weren't hired for this or anything, and I figure you weren't either, and it'd make sense. To join forces."

"I think it sounds like a good idea," Ray says, looking at Frank as well.

Frank throws a glance at Ray and then looks around the table. He pulls back a little and runs his fingers through his hair. Gerard notices that he has tattoos on his knuckles.

"Fuck, yeah— I mean, I." Frank shakes his head, but it doesn't seem to be a no. "I'm in," he says, and Gerard breathes out, relieved.

"So," Gerard says, and fiddles with his coffee cup. "What are you guys called? Your, uh, business."

"Iero Investigations," Frank says, and Gerard gapes.

"You can't call yourself that!"

"Why the fuck not?" Frank says, crossing his arms.

Gerard waves his hands around — Mikey reaches over and saves his cup. "Because it sounds like you're a private investigator or something."

"A private investigator of ghosts," Mikey says.

Frank nods towards him, "Exactly."

"But there's nothing that conveys the _ghost_ part," Gerard insists.

"Yeah, well, that's what it says in the _description_ , okay," Frank says. "What the fuck are _you_ called?"

"The Hunters Way," Gerard mutters.

"...What?" Frank looks amused and Ray's furrowing his brow, confused.

"It's not official yet," Gerard says. They haven't really found the one that felt _right_ , and it's harder to incorporate "Way" into the name and actually make it sound legitimate than one would think. Gerard scowls at Frank, who is snickering.

"What the fuck, the hunter's _way_? What _is_ the hunter's way?"

"It's our last name," Mikey says, and Frank raises his eyebrow.

"Okay, but still," he says. "You are so not in any position to judge _our_ name."

Gerard looks down, and crosses his arms, leaning back in the booth. He throws another quick glance at Frank: he doesn't look angry, though, not like he was last night. Gerard thinks there might even be a smile hiding in the corner of his mouth.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Mikey asks.

"Um, well. Let's get together tomorrow, check the place out again?" Ray offers.

"Why not tonight?" Gerard's kind of anxious to get back to the mansion. There's a spirit there who needs their help. He doesn't like the idea of putting this off.

"I'm busy tonight," Frank says, and Ray nods.

Gerard frowns. He wonders if they even take this seriously. The main reason Gerard does it is because he wants to _help_. Both the people who need to get rid of the ghost in their house, and the ghosts themselves. "But—"

Mikey nudges him, and Gerard snaps his mouth shut. Mikey gives him a little nod, and Gerard relaxes. He trusts Mikey's judgement, and if Mikey wants them involved then it must mean he thinks they'll get along when it comes to this.

"Anyway, we should maybe come up with some sort of plan beforehand," Ray says. "We can do that now?"

"Yeah, okay," says Mikey. "So we'll meet here tomorrow night before we go over? Or there?"

"How about we meet there and start with the first floor," Frank says, and leans forward again, face serious. He rolls up his sleeves, and Gerard's momentarily distracted, because fuck, the guy has some sweet ink. Frank's still talking though, so Gerard tries to pay attention and drag his eyes away from Frank's arms. "We split up into two teams — you guys have an EMF-meter, right?"

"Duh," Mikey says, and Gerard rolls his eyes. What do these guys take them for.

"So we can both go through the first floor and see what happens, and we'll meet in the front hall at midnight?"

Gerard nods. That's where the newspaper said most of the weird shit went down, and it was usually around midnight.

They hang out at the shop for a little while longer, talking about what parts of the house they went through and they gadgets they both have.

When they leave the shop Ray heads toward the car, but Frank trails behind, walking right in front of Gerard and Mikey. Gerard throws Mikey a glance, and Mikey answers with a blank look and shrugs. Frank stops then, and turns to face them.

"Look," Frank says, and bounces a little on his feet. "I— Fuck, I'm shit at apologies, okay. But I was kinda... I'm not usually that much of an asshole. You guys just caught me off guard that night." He seems slightly bashful.

Gerard nods. "It's fine." He shrugs a little. "I mean... Yeah. It's fine."

"Yeah," Frank says, and bites his lip. "Yeah, okay. Cool." Then he smiles, bright and unexpected. Gerard blinks. "Well, see you tomorrow, then," Frank says, and rushes over to where Ray's waiting.

"Huh," Gerard says. Mikey gives him an exasperated look, which Gerard's pretty sure he hasn't deserved this time. "What?"

"Nothing," Mikey says. "Come on. We can swing by the comic book store."

*

They meet up at the mansion two hours before midnight the next day so they'll have enough time to properly scope the place out. Gerard and Mikey take the side of the house they already started on, and they make quick work through it.

There's something odd about one of the rooms they pass, and Mikey's EMF-meter picks up slightly more activity, but it doesn't last and all Gerard's left with is a feeling of unease. It's not enough to go by, yet, but he marks it down in his sketchbook. Mikey reminded him to bring it this time, and he's glad for it.

Frank and Ray don't find much on their side of the house either, and they don't hear anything. They wait in the hall, barely breathing. Gerard's clutching his sketchbook, and he can see Mikey and Frank brandishing their EMF-meters like weapons.

The clock strikes midnight, and nothing happens.

Ray shrugs, and says, "Second floor tomorrow night?"

Gerard frowns a little — though going by the look Mikey gives him it probably looks more like a pout — but he has to admit that there's not really any point in sticking around when they're tired from going through the first floor.

"Fine," he says. "Tomorrow night, same time?"

Frank and Ray nod, and Frank gives them a little wave and a smile as they head off.

Mikey snorts, but when Gerard looks at him his face betrays nothing.

*

After three nights of searching — and too many runs to the nearby coffee shop to count — they finally encounter something. It's not much, just every door shutting at once while they're in the great hall, but at least it's a sign.

Something keeps drawing Gerard back into the room they were in when they first heard the thumping. Even though it was only Ray, the room itself is still... Different. Colder, and the energy in there feels more focused. He also finds another painting that he somehow missed on the first day — a little girl reading a book.

It calls out to him, but nothing actually _happens_ when he's in there. Mikey says he feels it too, but even though Frank and Ray feel the coldness of the room they can't sense anything else.

After a week of inspecting the mansion they take a night off and Frank and Ray come over to do research and compare notes. Gerard's not really sure how they decided on that, but he suspects Mikey's behind it.

Ray brings his laptop, and a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings. Frank brings a flash drive filled with pictures he took of the house. They all settle down in the basement.

"I found a bunch of stuff about the house on the web," Ray says, and Gerard nods.

"Yeah, Mikey looked up some as well: it was owned by a lot of different families, has been empty for a while now..."

"Ray found something better," Frank says. It doesn't sound harsh, though, more like he's stating a fact. Ray's blushing, just a little, and he rubs at the back of his neck.

"Well, yeah, I— There was an archive about all the families who have lived there. Like, detailed and stuff."

Mikey grins at Ray. "And how did you find this archive?"

Ray shakes his head, and grumbles something. It's like even his hair is embarrassed. "Anyway,I don't know what we should really start with. Like, a lot of people have died in there."

"How about—" Gerard says, and pauses when they turn to look at him. "The painting. The one in that room. I mean, I don't know if you can find it on there, but—"

"Yeah," says Ray, enthusiastic. "It did have some paintings in the system, I can totally check it out. I can't really remember what it looked like, though."

"I took a picture of it," Frank says, and settles down next to Ray to take the laptop. Somehow they've all ended up on Gerard's bed. Gerard's not really sure how it happened, but he realizes he doesn't exactly mind.

"Oh, here— No. Fuck." Frank frowns. Gerard leans in to look at the screen over his shoulder: there's a bright flash that covers up most of the painting. "Okay, I _know_ I took that without flash, I— I must have forgotten or something."

Gerard shakes his head. "No, this just proves it." He gets reaches for his sketchbook and starts flipping through the pages.

"What?" Frank asks. "You mean the— Oh."

"It was the ghost," Mikey says. "Definitely. That doesn't really look like a camera flash at all, something else messed with it."

"Okay, well, I'm sure we can find the painting here anyway, if you guys remember what it looks like," Ray says.

"It's this one." Gerard hands the sketchbook over to them.

"... Whoa," Frank says. "Is that— You drew that?" He looks up from the sketch, something like awe on his face.

Gerard chews on his bottom lip. "Uh, yeah. I told you I usually draw instead of taking pictures."

"Yeah," Frank says. "But this is— Like. This is really good, dude."

Gerard shrugs. He hasn't really shown anyone but Mikey his art in a while; he almost forgot how weird it was to get that kind of reaction to it. "Uh. Thanks."

"Can I— Can I look at the rest of it?" Frank asks. He's reaching for the sketchbook, but his eyes are on Gerard.

"Uh, sure. I mean, if Ray doesn't need it."

"I'm good," Ray says. Gerard thinks he might detect a note of amusement in his voice, but his attention is caught by Frank taking the sketchbook and carefully starting to flip through it.

Gerard fidgets around a little after that, while Ray's looking for the painting and Frank's going through the sketchbook and making appreciative noises every once in a while. Gerard gets up and starts pacing; he doesn't have anything to _do_. Mikey's studying the newspaper clippings and he raises his eyebrows in invitation, but Gerard shakes his head.

Finally Ray says, "Hey, is this it?" Gerard rushes over to see, and yeah, that's definitely the one. A little girl sitting in the corner of room, reading. Even through the computer screen, Gerard still gets this weird feeling of... longing.

Ray quickly recites all the information about the picture — the artist, the girl's name, the year she was born. The year she died.

"Fuck," says Frank when he sees the date. She was young, not yet eighteen.

"It's her," Gerard says. He knows it. He sees Mikey nod as well, a grim look on his face.

"There's not a lot about her life here," Ray says. "Just that she liked to read in that room and— Oh."

"What?" Frank asks.

"Apparently her room was just above that one."

Gerard looks over at Mikey, who nods back at him. "We should check that one out again, then. There's nothing about how she died?"

"No," Ray says, scrolling through the page again. He yawns abruptly, and that sets them all off. "Fuck, we should probably go."

"Yeah," Frank says. "I doubt we're gonna find anything else tonight. Oh, here." He hands Gerard back the sketchbook. Gerard blinks; he didn't even realize Frank still had it. "You— These were really cool," Frank says. "You're really good."

"Thanks," Gerard says, and gives Frank a smile that feels a bit awkward on his face.

Ray stops on porch, and turns back to face them. "Oh, fuck, guys, I totally forgot that I have some stuff I need to do tomorrow. So I won't be able to make it."

"That's fine," Gerard says. "I— We can wait for you. We can go the day after that." He gives Mikey a look, who gives him a little smile.

"Oh," Ray says, surprised. "Oh, yeah, okay. That's great. Well, see you then." He beams at them, and turns to head toward his car.

"Uh, hey," Frank calls out. "Um, give me a minute?" Ray waves his hand at him and keeps walking.

Gerard frowns when he realizes Mikey has disappeared back into the house.

"Um," he says, confused, when Frank glances up at him.

"Hey," Frank says. "So... Do you want to, like, go and get coffee tomorrow?"

"But we have tomorrow off," Gerard says, furrowing his brow. "We're not going to the house, so we don't..."

He trails off, confused, when he realizes that Frank is blushing. It's faint, but it's there, high on his cheeks.

"No," Frank says. "I mean... Do you want to have coffee with me?"

"Oh," Gerard says. " _Oh_. Yeah, um. Sure."

"Yeah?" Frank asks. "Uh, so I'll call you tomorrow?" He gives Gerard a hopeful smile. It makes Gerard want to grin back.

*

They meet up at the coffee shop at two in the afternoon the next day.

It's just a bit awkward at first, but soon enough Frank has drawn him into an argument about X-Men versus Doom Patrol.

"Wait," Gerard says when he's well on into his rant and realize Frank is giggling at him. "You're— You're just winding me up."

Frank laughs out loud at that, and covers his hands with his face. "Oh man," he says. "You're so _easy_."

"Hey," Gerard protests.

Frank shakes his head. "Nah, dude, it's— It's cute. And entertaining."

"Well, I'm glad I could be of entertainment," Gerard grumbles and takes a sip of his coffee.

Frank cracks up again, and Gerard hides his smile in his cup.

"Hey," Frank says, after a while. "Wanna go grab a smoke?"

They lean against the side of the building and smoke for a while in quiet.

"So," Frank finally says. "What's your story?"

Gerard glances over at him; Frank sounds nonchalant enough, but he looks curious, his face open and gaze intent on Gerard.

"My story?" Gerard asks.

"Yeah," Frank says. "How did you get into this business?"

"Huh," Gerard says, when he realizes they've never really talked about that. "My grandmother was a ghost hunter," he says. "Elena Lee Rush." Frank's eyes widen, and he lets out a little _whoa_ sound.

Gerard nods. People in the business definitely knew her. "She used to tell us stories when we were little, me and Mikey. Our mom wasn't really a fan of the whole thing, though. But Elena still took us out with her sometimes, even when she wasn't really in it anymore."

He pauses to take a drag. "Mom didn't really like it, but then we started going out by ourselves. I mean, she didn't really like that either, so we didn't really... tell her."

Frank snorts at that. "Yeah, I hear you. My mom has always been pretty against it, but it's been in our family for ages. I mean, I didn't really have to take it up, you know? And sometimes I still think that maybe I should do something else, but—"

"But," Gerard coaxes when Frank doesn't go on.

"I'm good at it," Frank says. "I mean, it is something I'm good at, and it also helps people."

"Yeah," Gerard says, glad that Frank gets it. "Yeah, exactly. I tried other things, and maybe I'll still do something else, but right now— It feels right. And I'm really glad I get to do it with Mikey."

He knows that Mikey hadn't really believed him at first. He'd always encouraged Gerard to create more, to really go for it with his art, and he thought that Gerard was somehow... settling by coming back to Jersey and deciding to start up the business. It'd taken a while, but he thinks Mikey gets it now. He wants to do this, but most of all, he wants to do it with Mikey.

Frank smiles at him. "You guys get along great," he says, and Gerard nods, because yeah, they do. "You seem really protective of him."

"Well, yeah," Gerard says. "I mean— Obviously."

"No, yeah," Frank says. "I just mean... It's just pretty noticeable. It's like you're always aware where he is, and, well, he's never far."

Gerard shrugs. "We never split up when we're hunting."

"Never?" Frank asks. "But—"

Gerard fiddles with his cigarette, looks down at his feet. "Once when Mikey was younger and we went with a big group, just kids messing around, I thought— I thought it'd be fine. Figured there maybe wasn't a ghost at all, and he wouldn't _really_ bealone anyway..."

Frank drifts a little closer to him. Gerard looks at him; Frank's gazing at him with a soft look in his eyes. Gerard swallows heavily and looks away.

"What happened?" Frank asks, when Gerard doesn't say anything. "I mean— You don't have to..."

Gerard shakes his head an takes a drag of his cigarette.

"It— The spirit didn't really like big crowds. It started a fire; someone had dropped their lighter or something. I don't even know. He didn't— We all got out okay, no one got _hurt_ exactly. Just a bit of lung damage. But I couldn't find him, and when I did..."

He shuts his eyes against the memory. He can still feel that terror sometimes, that abrupt jolt of not having Mikey there by his side turning into fear and more. Finding him on the floor, in the room next to where the fire was blazing, coughing.

"Hey," Frank says, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "You know that— Fuck." He's cut off by his phone ringing. He fishes it out of his back pocket — Gerard watches him wiggle around a bit a bit to get at it, and almost chokes on his next inhale — and answers it with a sharp, "Yeah?"

Gerard looks away, and listens as Frank's voice changes. "Oh, fuck— Yeah. Yeah, no. Shit. I'll be right there." He glances back when

"Fuck, I'm sorry, I gotta go. Band practice. Man, I totally forgot." He looks really apologetic.

"Oh," Gerard says. "No, yeah, that's okay. You're in a band?" Frank didn't mention that.

"Yeah," Frank says. "It's kinda— Well, we suck. But it's fun, and I'm late, so..."

"Sure, of course. It's fine."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Frank asks.

Gerard nods, and Frank smiles at him.

"Awesome."

Frank rises on his toes, quick, and kisses Gerard on the cheek. Gerard just stands there, dumbfounded. _Oh_. By the time he snaps out of it, Frank's already gone.

*

They get to the house before Ray and Frank the next night. Gerard considers going in, but it'd feel weird. He hadn't realized exactly how comfortable they'd gotten, working together.

Finally Frank and Ray arrive, Frank beaming as soon as he sees Gerard. It sends a ridiculous jolt through his body, and makes him feel all warm. He shakes his head to regain his focus.

"So, do you think the two rooms are connected?" Ray asks him when they enter the house.

Gerard nods. "I— Yeah. Yeah, probably so."

"And you both feel some sort of pull toward it?"

Gerard looks at Mikey, who shrugs. "Yeah. I mean, I think Gerard probably feels a stronger connection, but there's— It's definitely there." Ray nods, thoughtful.

"Okay," Frank says, stopping before the stairs. "We're gonna go check it out. Ray, Mikey, maybe you stay down here and see if anything changes?"

"What?" Gerard says. He— No, he _told_ Frank, Frank _knows_ — "No."

"I'm sorry, Gerard," Frank says. "But you two sense this better than us."

"But—"

"Come on, Gerard, it'll be fine," Mikey says, and Gerard prepares to argue, but Mikey's looking at him with his resolved face, fuck. Gerard hates fighting Mikey's resolved face.

Frank places a hand on Gerard's arm, brief yet calming. "Hey, he won't be alone, okay. He'll be with Ray."

Ray looks a bit confused, but when Gerard catches his eye, he nods and smiles. Mikey just gives him an impatient look, and jolts his head toward the staircase. "Go on. Try not to get distracted."

Gerard rolls his eyes, almost certain he's blushing, and Frank giggles. Gerard reaches out to briefly touch Mikey's arm before he and Frank take the stairs.

They find the room pretty fast — Frank says he thinks he went through it at one point, but can't really recall much of it.

The air in there is heavy, undisturbed. Gerard runs a careful hand over the mantelpiece; it's covered with a fine layer of dust whereas the rest of the rooms were pretty clean.

He can feel it immediately, a pull coming from the bookcase. He nods towards it and Frank points his EMF-meter at it. It definitely picks up a stronger reading than normal.

"You're, like, sensing something, right?" Frank asks quietly. Gerard nods. "The same kind as downstairs?"

Gerard has to think about it for a bit, it's not _exactly_ the same. Somehow this is more of a... safe feeling. Safe and hidden. Suddenly he knows what he's looking for.

It's at the bottom of the bookcase, tucked between old dictionaries. It looks like a diary, but when Gerard opens it it's empty. He runs a finger over the page.

"Let me see," Frank says, and Gerard hands it over.

Frank lifts it up to his face and inspects it, frowning. "There's nothing there."

"No," Gerard says. "But it's important. I— It feels important."

"But it's empty," Frank says, and then something moves through the room — like a breeze, swirling, encompassing the two of them. Gerard startles back, and then realizes that no, it's not around the two of them, it's around _Frank_.

It's gone soon enough, though, but it leaves Frank coughing, and shaking. He drops the notebook and rushes for the door as soon as the spirit is gone, and Gerard follows.

"Dude," Gerard says when Frank doesn't stop coughing. "Are you okay?"

Frank shakes his head and leans against the wall, his coughs finally quieting. "Fuck, that was— Fuck." He wheezes a little, and Gerard frowns, but then Frank pushes himself away from the wall and heads down the hallway. Gerard hurries to catch up to him.

"Frank?"

"That was really fucking intense," Frank says. "Did you not feel that?"

"I— What exactly did you feel?" Gerard asks. "Frank. Frank, wait." Frank's walking fast, and Gerard can see him clenching and unclenching his fists. "Stop, talk to me."

Frank abruptly comes to a stop, and Gerard almost bumps into him.

"It was— It felt like something was choking me," he says. "Not even someone, but just this— This big _something_ , like it didn't even have a shape or anything, it was just— It was _everything_."

"Whoa," Gerard says, and reaches out. "Hey, it's okay. It's over now."

Frank takes a deep breath, and then lets it out. Gerard rubs his arm, and waits for Frank's breathing to go back to normal.

"So," Frank says. "I'm thinking exorcism, though I'm not really sure how—"

"What?" Gerard asks, and gapes at him. "We can't just— She needs our _help_ , not for us to banish her to fuck knows where."

"Help?" Frank asks, raising his eyebrows. "You— You read about what went on in here, right? She's _dangerous_."

Gerard feels like someone not only pulled the rug from under his feet but also took a sledgehammer to the floor. He pulls back his hand. Frank wants to do a fucking _exorcism_?

"Is that how you do things?" Gerard asks. "Just send them off to wherever, don't even care what happens to them?"

"Gerard," Frank sighs. "Not always, okay, but sometimes it's the only option."

"What? No, fuck no, it isn't! It's awful, you can't just—"

"Gerard, they're not—"

"We're supposed to _help_ them," Gerard says, and takes a step closer to Frank. "They're hurting and confused and we're supposed to _help_."

"And what if they're a danger to people?" Frank asks. "What then?"

"They're— They don't _mean_ to—"

"Oh, come on, Gerard," Frank says, and Gerard hates hearing the way his name sounds right now in Frank's mouth. "You told me about that fire, so I _know_ you've come across some evil—"

"They're not _evil_ ," Gerard says. "They're just lost, they don't— Fuck, I can't believe you." Frank's... Frank's just looking at him like Gerard is the one talking nonsense. "Fuck this. She is young, and she's scared, and we're not gonna fucking exorcise her." He pushes past Frank and heads toward the staircase.

"Gerard." Frank calls out to him, but Gerard doesn't look back. "Gerard. Gerard, please. Wait."

"What?" Gerard asks, exasperated, and turns around on top of the staircase.

"Look," Frank says. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this is how you see them, okay. And I— I get what you mean, and I _get_ that you want to help everyone, but sometimes it's not possible."

Gerard's still breathing fast, and he still can't believe how different their views are about this, but Frank's biting his lip, and his gaze is soft.

"We'll decide together," Gerard says. "All four of us. I mean, fuck, it sucks that we don't have a tiebreaker or anything, but— We'll talk about it."

Frank quirks his lips then, and reaches out to touch Gerard's shoulder. "Yeah," he says. "We'll figure it out together."

Gerard's still pissed off, but fuck, he wants to kiss that smirk off Frank's lips. He starts leaning in, but Frank's eyes drift to his left, and his expression changes. "Mikey?"

Gerard whips his head to the side, and there's Mikey, standing in the hall and looking up, but not at them.

Gerard lifts his gaze to the big chandelier hanging on the ceiling; there's something around it, a mist of some sort surrounding it, and suddenly the whole thing crashes down.

"Mikey!"

Gerard rushes down the stairs, heart beating loud in his ears. They shouldn't have split up, _why_ did they split up, oh god, Mikey.

When he reaches Mikey he's down on the ground and there's _blood_ , but he's moving. He lifts a hand up and Gerard takes hold of it. "Mikey."

Mikey shakes his head and tries to sit up, clinging on to Gerard's hand for help. "I—" He seems dazed, and Gerard wants to pull him close, but first he needs to figure out where the blood's coming from.

"I think it just hit his shoulder," Ray says, and Gerard startles. He didn't realize that Ray had shown up. God, why had Mikey been _alone_ in the hall. "Come on, let me see. I've totally patched wounds before, this one's always falling over stuff." He quirks his head in Frank's direction.

Gerard shuffles back just a little, still holding on to Mikey, and lets Ray step in. Ray sounds calm, but Gerard can see his hands are shaking, just a little. Gerard doesn't even know if he could stand up right now himself, he feels short of breath and dizzy.

Mikey makes a pained noise when Ray touches his shoulder, and Gerard holds back a growl. Ray's just helping, he knows this. The wound doesn't seem to be actively bleeding anymore. Gerard raises his head and looks at the chandelier lying broken on the floor. God, if it had been any closer...

"I don't think it needs stitches," Ray says. "But we could still drive you to the hospital, of course."

Mikey shakes his head, and tries to get up again. Gerard helps him stand up: Mikey wobbles just a little, but doesn't loose his footing. He stumbles a bit when he tries to take a step, though, and Gerard reaches out, but Ray gets there first.

"Hey," Frank says, stepping closer to them. "Hey, take it easy. It's okay." Gerard takes a deep breath. Frank.

"This is your fault," he says, looking up at Frank.

"My— What?" Frank asks, bewildered. "I—"

"Gee—" Mikey starts, but Gerard doesn't take his eyes off Frank.

" _You_ said that we should split up, you—"

"Gerard," Ray interrupts him. "If it's anyone's fault it's _mine_ , okay. I didn't even notice—"

"Guys, it's nobody's _fault_ , okay?" Mikey says, and Gerard turns back to him. He reaches out, and even though Mikey's glaring at him he leans in and rests his head on Gerard's shoulder. "Now can we please get out of here?"

Gerard wraps an arm around Mikey's waist and walks with him to their car. He doesn't look back.

*

When they reach the house Gerard realizes that Ray and Frank have followed them. They reach the door at the same time as Gerard and Mikey, and say they want to help. Gerard allows it — Ray did say he's good at bandaging and Gerard can tell Mikey doesn't really want them to leave.

Gerard finds some bandages in the bathroom, and Ray carefully cleans the wound and wraps it. Gerard also brings Mikey some painkillers and generally hovers near him. Mikey seems fine, though, just tired. Gerard leaves him to sleep and goes into the kitchen to get him a glass of water in case he wakes up thirsty.

Ray's sitting in the kitchen; he smiles at Gerard when he comes in. "He's gonna be fine."

Gerard nods jerkily and shrugs. "Yeah." He looks around, but there's no sign of Frank. "Where..."

"On the porch, I think," Ray says. "Hey, uh... Let me take that up for Mikey."

Gerard wants to protest at first, but Ray's cool and Gerard can see he cares about Mikey. Besides, he should probably talk to Frank. He's not completely sure if he wants to, but he wants a smoke anyway, so.

Frank's sitting on the steps of the porch, smoking. Gerard settles down next to him, lights his own cigarette and takes a long drag from it. He doesn't look at Frank.

They sit there, smoking, for a long time. Eventually he feels Franks shift next to him.

"Gerard..."

Gerard shakes his head, and closes his eyes. He's— He's not really pissed at Frank anymore. He's just tired. "Frank—"

"Look, Gerard, I'm _sorry_ about what happened. Fuck, you _know_ I'm sorry; I hate that Mikey got hurt, but it— It wasn't my fault."

He feels Frank's hand on his shoulder, a warm weight, and Frank says, "It wasn't your fault, either."

Gerard breathes in, sharply, because that's— Fuck.

"Gerard," Frank repeats. "It wasn't your fault."

"I just— I should have—"

"No," says Frank. "Hey, no."

Gerard breathes out and rubs at his forehead with the same hand that's holding the cigarette.

"Stop that, you'll set yourself on fire," Frank says, pulling his hand away and plucking the cigarette from it. He laces his fingers with Gerard's and scoots a little closer on the step. "You know he doesn't blame you, right. For any of it."

Gerard shakes his head. "That's not—"

"And I know you think you're responsible for him and in a way you _are_ , I get that. Just..."

He trails off and Gerard finishes for him. "It wasn't my fault."

"Yeah," Frank says, and holds the cigarette up to his lips. Gerard meets his eyes for a moment, then leans in to inhale.

He brings his other hand up — Frank's still holding the other; his fingers are rough against Gerard's skin, but warm — to take the cigarette and kisses Frank.

Frank opens up immediately, his hand coming up to rest on Gerard's side, clutching Gerard's waist. Gerard can't believe they haven't done this yet, and at the same time he can't believe he gets to do it now. Frank hums happily against his mouth, and Gerard smiles. It makes it kind of harder to keep kissing, but he can't help it.

They're interrupted by the front door opening. "Oh, shit," Ray says. "Oh, fuck, I'm sorry, I'll just—"

Frank giggles, and Gerard almost feels like laughing as well. He shakes his head and leans in for another quick kiss. "Hey," he says. "I should get back to Mikey, but—"

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Frank asks. He looks happy, and hopeful, and Gerard nods.

"Yeah," he says. "We should get coffee."

"Oh, I meant at the house. Psh, why would I wanna get coffee with you," Frank says, and then laughs at Gerard's expression. "Sucker." He steals a kiss, and another one, and when Gerard finally pulls back, Frank also leans in for a quick hug.

"See you tomorrow," he says. "I hope Mikey'll feel better soon."

Gerard swallows, and leans his head on Frank's shoulder. "Thanks," he says quietly.

*

They don't go back to the house the next night. Mikey's shoulder is sore, so Frank drags them all to the cinema instead. Ray drives Mikey home later while Gerard takes Frank out for coffee. He did promise, after all.

The night after that, though, Gerard doesn't want to postpone it anymore. He told Mikey about the diary, and he agreed that it must be the key. Gerard leaves Mikey downstairs with Frank and Ray — but not before pulling him into a long hug, which makes Mikey roll his eyes a lot — and goes to get the diary himself.

It's like— He knows she won't mind. He hopes. He gets it, he thinks, even if it's blank. It's unfilled. Empty, and lost, and it hurts. He hopes they'll be able to help.

The diary's waiting for him when he gets to the room, on a prime spot on the bookshelf. He takes it gently, and smiles down at it.

"So, what do we do?" Ray asks when they're gathered around it in the hall.

Gerard takes out his lighter and holds it up. "Burn it."

"But where?" Frank asks. "Here? Shouldn't you, like. I don't know—"

"Not here," Gerard says. "The fireplace in the room below hers." It'll work. He knows it will, he can feel it. She wants it to work. He looks up and sees that Mikey feels it, too. Frank and Ray don't, yet they still stand there with them, trusting their judgment. Gerard smiles at them.

She goes easily, without a fight. Gerard can feel her leaving as the pages catch fire. It's like a soft breeze through the room, and it briefly touches him where he's sitting in front of the fireplace. It's almost like a thank you.

He waits there until the fire has consumed the diary, then gets up to go back to his guys waiting in the hall.

*

"So," Ray says once they're back in Gerard and Mikey's house, enjoying their pizza. "That's a case solved."

Frank nods. "Yeah," he says happily, and takes another bite.

Gerard's sprawled out on his bed, his head resting on Mikey's stomach. He feels tired, but satisfied.

"Do we have more coke?" Mikey asks, nudging his fingers against Gerard's head.

"In the kitchen," Gerard says. "Too lazy to get up."

Mikey sighs, and Gerard closes his eyes for a brief second before pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Only because you're injured," he says, wagging a finger towards Mikey. Mikey grins at him, fond, and Gerard smiles back.

He's rummaging through the fridge when he hears someone come in. The warm body hugging him a second later tells him it's Frank, and he makes a vague sound of acknowledgment.

"What?" Frank says, clinging on to Gerard's waist. "That's all I get?"

"Second," Gerard mutters, and then finds the last bottle with a triumphant cheer. Frank lets him close the door and set the bottle on the counter before he's leaning up and kissing him, deep.

Gerard hums, and they keep trading slow and lazy kisses for a while. Frank's warm against him, Gerard likes how he feels in his arms.

"Hey," Frank says, and pulls back abruptly. Gerard blinks. "So now that the case is over..."

Gerard nods, slowly. "Yeah?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you're, like. Gonna keep doing your own thing, and, like, that'd be cool, of course, but if— I mean, I'm— I still want to do this, of course." He leans in and kisses Gerard, fast. "Like, no matter what you guys decide to do with your... Your whole thing. But I thought—"

"Frank," Gerard interrupts him. "I'm sorry, dude, but I'm having a really hard time following you right now."

Frank huffs. "Do you want to keep working together?" he asks. Gerard laughs, delighted.

"Fuck yeah," he says, and leans back in.


End file.
